Iron ore dips as ample supply, declining freight rates weigh
By Emily Ou Yong SINGAPORE, Oct 13 (Reuters) — Iron ore futures fell on Tuesday, as ample global supply, elevated Chinese port inventories, and declining shipping costs weighed on prices. The most-traded January iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 0.58% lower at 680.5 yuan ($101.64) a metric ton, as of 0313 GMT. The benchmark November iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.31% lower at $90.65 a ton. Iron ore inventory at major Chinese ports rose 0.19% week-on-week to 152.66 million tons as of Friday, data from consultancy Steelhome showed. Supply remains comfortable despite a slight tightening, while increased blast furnace maintenance after the holiday continues to weigh on near-term demand, analysts from Shanghai Metals Market said in a note. The first round of coke price cuts has improved steel mill margins, but soft end-user demand has so far limited any increase in iron ore purchases, the analysts said, adding that ore prices were likely to remain rangebound at relatively low levels in the near term. Major steel mills in China's Shandong and Hebei provinces lowered coking coal purchase prices on Monday, completing a second round of coking coal
By Emily Ou Yong SINGAPORE, Oct 13 (Reuters) — Iron ore futures fell on Tuesday, as ample global supply, elevated Chinese port inventories, and declining shipping costs weighed on prices. 64) a metric ton, as of 0313 GMT. 65 a ton. 66 million tons as of Friday, data from consultancy Steelhome showed.
Supply remains comfortable despite a slight tightening, while increased blast furnace maintenance after the holiday continues to weigh on near-term demand, analysts from Shanghai Metals Market said in a note. The first round of coke price cuts has improved steel mill margins, but soft end-user demand has so far limited any increase in iron ore purchases, the analysts said, adding that ore prices were likely to remain rangebound at relatively low levels in the near term. Major steel mills in China's Shandong and Hebei provinces lowered coking coal purchase prices on Monday, completing a second round of coking coal price reductions, according to consultancy Mysteel.
Declining shipping costs have weakened cost support for iron ore since the Golden Week holiday, leaving the ore market under pressure, Xu Yanyan, analyst at broker Chaos Tianfeng Futures, said in a note. 37 a ton on Monday, Mysteel data showed. 3% growth, the World Steel Association said on Monday, citing weaker demand in China and disruption from the US-Iran conflict. 15%.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. 59%. com;)